Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The ESB has identified an opportunity to use its electricity distribution network to provide fibre telecommunications services in the Irish market. It will be able to do this either alone or in partnership with another company. It is envisaged this, in turn, could facilitate retail telecommunications operators in Ireland to deliver fibre broadband services.

The purpose of the Bill is to enable the ESB to attach a fibre network to its electricity network for the purposes of entering the wholesale communications market. The ESB already operates a fibre network across the electricity transmission system. This fibre network originates through the ESB's management of the electricity network. Over time additional capacity on the network has been sold to operators in the telecommunications market. The proposed new network relates to the distribution system and differs from the ESB's existing fibre network in that it would be a stand-alone business with no direct connection to the management of the electricity network. It was, therefore, considered prudent to introduce legislation to provide the ESB with an explicit legal basis to engage in the telecommunications market. It is expected that it will bring forward detailed proposals for this project during 2014. Such proposals and the necessary statutory approval will be subject to separate detailed consideration by the Department.

The ESB is no longer one entity but comprises a group of companies looking after various specific tasks. Electric Ireland manages electricity and gas supply accounts. ESB Networks Limited maintains Ireland's electricity network and infrastructure and the ESB's electricity meters. ESB International is an international energy company investing in energy and engineering projects. ESB Telecoms Limited was founded by the ESB group in 2001 to explore opportunities in the Irish telecommunications market. It built and owns 1,300 km of the national fibre optic network, comprising 48 core fibre wrapped around the ESB's high voltage network which links various metropolitan area networks in major Irish cities. Its national network is constructed in a figure of eight pattern around Ireland, with a spur from Carrick-on-Shannon to Buncrana. It also owns and manages more than 400 telecommunications towers and sites containing substantial installations for all major Irish telecommunications companies. Through its network, it offers bandwidth and infrastructure to mobile phone operators, Departments and agencies, licensed operators and wireless Internet service providers. ESB Telecoms Limited's fibre-optic network forms a key part of the national telecommunications infrastructure enabling broadband connectivity for businesses and consumers. This was significantly expanded in 2012 with the completion of a subsea fibre optic cable directly linking Irish businesses with major UK cities.

This network is augmented by one of the largest networks of independent mobile tower sites in the country allowing customers to support the increasing demand for services delivered through mobile devices and smartphones.

Significant investment is required to upgrade broadband infrastructure at a time when the ongoing global economic uncertainty makes raising capital more expensive. While UPC has invested significantly in upgrading its cable network in our main urban centres, businesses, particularly SMEs, in a large number of medium-sized towns do not have access to competitively price advanced broadband services. Several operators in the market provide a fibre optic broadband and communications service, including eircom, UPC and Magnet. When enacted, the legislation will allow the ESB to use its distribution network to deliver telecommunication services.

See this speech in context